The invention relates to a headrest of an automotive vehicle seat, said headrest having a carrier structure comprising at least one bar and a supporting member, the carrier structure being connected to the supporting member through at least one guide region and the supporting member being movable with respect to the carrier structure along a linear forward path of travel from a normal position of utilization into an accident position in which the supporting member is located both in the x direction and in the z direction in front of the position of utilization.
Such a headrest also has a known padding for the head of an occupant to rest against. Said padding is carried by the supporting member. The supporting member is substantially located behind and within the padding. The carrier structure connects the headrest to a backrest of a seat. Usually, the carrier structure has two parallel bars that are, most often slidably, disposed in the backrest.
In the event the automotive vehicle is involved in an accident, it is important that the occupant's head be sufficiently supported during the accident. Usually, the head of an occupant will not continuously rest on the padding; it is rather held at a certain distance from the padding. In the event of an accident, this is disadvantageous because the occupant's head will have to move a certain distance before coming to rest against the soft padding at all. It is well known that it is precisely the backward movement of the head relative to the upper body that causes pain and damage. This is known as “whiplash”.